BY CHRISTOPHER STAMM
GUEST movie REVIEWER
The Tomorrow War (Now streaming on Amazon)
Rated PG-13 – for language, violence and adult themes
Thirty years from now, humanity is locked in a battle for survival with an alien species and is losing, and we are losing badly, and that is the driving theme of The Tomorrow War, the newest entry into the big leagues of motion pictures by the streaming giant, Amazon.
The movie stars Chris Pratt (Guardians of the Galaxy) as Dan Forrester, an ex-soldier and current science teacher doing his best Gary Cooper everyman performance.
While watching the World Cup, the planet is shocked at the arrival of a group of battle-scarred soldiers who appear midfield in a giant blue light and inform the viewers that in their timeline of 2051, humanity will be extinguished from the earth within 11 months. The world rallies and institutes a draft and starts sending conscripts to the future to help fight this Tomorrow War.
This is a good film, with well-done action sequences, solid performances, and a twist or two that makes actual sense rather than coming from far left field.
The supporting cast is sold, including Yvonne Strahovski (Chuck) and Sam Richardson (Werewolves Within) as the comic relief and the always solid J.K. Simmons (Spiderman).
There are multiple themes throughout this film, from accepting who you are, to the threat of losing our freedoms in the name of the greater good, something we who are over 30 are seeing and coming to grips with every day.
The Tomorrow War is, at its hear,t a solid Sci-Fi action film with more depth than you usually see in this genre, which typically is filled with indestructible heroes and over the top villains.
Currently streaming on Amazon and free to Prime members, The Tomorrow War is absolutely worth the 2 hour 20 minute runtime commitment.
This movie gets a full three out of five stars; it only missed out on a fourth star, because it would have been better served on the big screen in a full theatre.